Getting as many people online and enjoying the benefits of that the internet can bring is an incredibly complex task involving digital skills, attitude and awareness among others. But in many ways the first step is ensuring that the underlying connectivity is available to them. In this light the Government’s desire to “make sure that every home and business can have access to fast broadband by the end of this Parliament??? is to be welcomed.
The latest Broadband Performance Indicator report published by Government shows that superfast broadband has now been made accessible to nearly 3 million premises in the UK (an increase of 500 000 more premises since May 2015) thanks to projects funded by the Broadband Delivery UK Programme (BDUK).
“Productivity is the challenge of our time??? – that is the stark opening of the Government’s ‘Fixing the Foundations: Creating a more prosperous nation’ which is billed as the second half of the Budget. The plan outlines the scale of the challenge facing the UK and sets out specific measures in order to overcome it, including practical measures that should help implement its goal for a “world-class digital infrastructure in every part of the UK???.
This week the Department for Culture, Media and Sport announced that over 25,000 SMEs have now taken advantage of the Government’s broadband connection voucher scheme. The scheme helps businesses upgrade their broadband connection with a grant of up to £3000 and is available across 50 cities from over 500 suppliers.
Ofcom yesterday launched an action plan for improving the broadband services that are available to the UK’s small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Whilst they found that the vast majority of SMEs are satisfied with the communications and are well catered for, they did discover a significant minority who had less favourable experiences. Ofcom highlighted four issues that they feel need more attention; the availability of superfast broadband, a concentrated retail market structure, concerns around quality of service, and SMEs struggling to navigate the market.
The Government released its latest report on the progress made by the Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) programme. Thanks to this, superfast broadband is now available to over 2.4 million premises in the UK (an increase of 500 000 more premises since December 2014). This, according to the report, equates to nearly 8000 premises covered per £million of BDUK expenditure.
It looks as if UK broadband is at a crossroads – 2015/2016 could mark a big year with exciting change and exponential investment in broadband infrastructure. BT and Virgin Media are powering ahead with infrastructure roll out, and newer mobile broadband technologies like 4G and Wifi-calling are gaining traction.
The Broadband Stakeholder Group has today published its work programme for 2015/16.
The #Budget2015 had a few more nuggets about broadband and telecoms that previous statements with an ambition for ‘ultrafast’ broadband to nearly all premises and a new Universal Service Obligation for broadband. (more…)
The House of Lords Digital Skills Committee published today a report entitled “Make or Break: the UK’s Digital Future???. It outlines the digital revolution that is taking place and states that the UK is at risk of being left behind. The Committee calls on the next Government to take a more ambitious approach in the development and delivery of digital policies.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport today published their initial findings from the feasibility phase of 8 test pilots that were set up to explore alternative technologies and business cases to deploy superfast broadband to the hardest-to-reach areas. 7 of those pilots are now being taken forward to deployment.
The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee today published a report into the extent of broadband coverage in rural areas and the launch of digital only services, in which it called for the “hardest-to-reach??? areas to be given priority in the delivery of broadband services.
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) discussed today the National Audit Office progress report on the Government’s superfast rural broadband programme.
In a more positive session, the Committee reviewed with the panel (DCMS, BT Group and BDUK representatives) issues raised in previous meetings, including the lack of transparency on the detail of the roll-out plans including costs and level of competition in public funding.
In the Autumn Statement, the Government has announced that it will extend the vouchers component of the Super Connected Cities programme. The Connection Vouchers scheme allows SMEs in Super Connected Cities* to get a grant of up to £3,000 for a faster, better broadband connection.
DCMS has today published the Terms of Reference of the Digital Communications Infrastructure Strategy, as was announced in the Connectivity, Content and Consumers policy paper last July. This strategy will play an important role in ensuring that the UK has the right infrastructure in place to meet the needs of users in 2025-30 and ensure that the UK remains a leading digital nation.
The Terms of Reference cite BSG’s work on future domestic bandwidth requirements in the document, and the BSG will continue to work closely with DCMS on this area, as part of our 2014 work programme. DCMS has said it is keen to gather views on future demand for connectivity, the drivers for that demand, how this demand can be met and who needs to do what to ensure our infrastructure is capable of meeting user demand over the next 10-15 years. (more…)
